Volunteer Service Abroad
 | |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 |
| Headquarters |
|
| Key people |
Awi Riddell - Kaumatua Gavin Kerr - President Farib Sos - Council Chair Gill Greer - CEO |
| Area served | Melanesia, Polynesia, Timor-Leste |
| Focus(es) | Development |
| Motto | New Zealanders making a positive difference in the world |
| Website | www.vsa.org.nz |
| References: Member of Council for International Development | |
Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is New Zealand's largest and most experienced volunteering agency working in international development. VSA volunteers share skills with people in the wider Pacific to help them build a better future for themselves and their children. VSA's work is diverse and driven by the development needs of in-country partners. These partner organisations range from regional and central government agencies to local or national NGOs, education and health bodies and individual schools, colleges and health clinics. VSA is a registered charity and is non-religious, non-political and non-governmental.
VSA has 85-100 volunteers in the field at any one time. During the 2011-2012 financial year, volunteers undertook 150 assignments. Over the past 50 years VSA has recruited more than 3500 ordinary New Zealanders from a wide range of backgrounds, from business mentors and lawyers to IT advisers and eco-tourism operators.
All VSA assignments fit within one or more of six focus areas: building local business, supporting strong communities, safeguarding the environment, fostering good governance, education and health. In addition to these, VSA considers issues related to gender equality, human rights and young people as central to all our work.
VSA is currently working in the New Guinea Islands (including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville), the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu in the Pacific and in Timor-Leste in Asia.
VSA needs ongoing financial support to continue to send Kiwi volunteers to share their skills with communities in the wider Pacific.
History
VSA began by sending New Zealand volunteers to Thailand and Samoa in 1962. In February 1963, Sir Edmund Hillary became VSA’s founding President, a role he continued for 13 years. In the 1960s, most VSA volunteers taught in schools. Today the range of assignments is broader. VSA's project partners, once mostly host governments, now include a range of government agencies, NGOs non-governmental organisations and community organisations.
VSA's programmes are managed from VSA's Wellington office but in-country VSA programme managers in each region provide on-the-ground support to volunteers and partner organisations.
Method of operation
VSA works with in-country partners overseas to make sure that all volunteer assignments are locally identified, locally relevant, and locally delivered. Their goal is to transfer skills and knowledge so that the changes achieved during an assignment are sustainable once a volunteer returns to New Zealand. There are both long (12 months and over) and short-term assignments.
VSA also works with New Zealand partners to provide innovative volunteering opportunities, making it possible for more New Zealanders to volunteer and contribute to lasting change.
VSA is an incorporated society and its members vote on resolutions at an AGM annual general meeting held every October. VSA is guided by a Kaumātua and a governing body of nine people. The Council meets five times each year to decide ongoing policy and activities. VSA's council works closely with VSA’s CEO, Gill Greer, to oversee policy and strategic implementation.
Gill Greer, CEO
Gill Greer joined VSA as CEO in July 2012 and leads the implementation of our international development work.
Dr Greer, a Wellingtonian, spent five years in London as director general of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). She was previously executive director of the New Zealand Family Planning Association. She also chaired the Asia Pacific Alliance and the New Zealand NGO-Ministry of Health Forum, and spent a term as Assistant Vice Chancellor at Victoria University.
Dr Greer was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to family planning and literature in 2005 and was awarded a CBE in the January British New Year's honours list for her work on international health and women’s rights.
External links
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